Algeria, Chinese Taipei accuse boxing body of ‘baseless claims’ in Olympic gender row

PARIS – Algeria’s Olympic Committee accused the International Boxing Association (IBA) of “baseless claims” after the IBA alleged on Aug 5 that

an Algerian boxer in the semi-finals of the Paris women’s competition was a male.

Imane Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting are in the eye of a storm, after it emerged that they were disqualified from the IBA’s 2023 World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests.

But the boxing in Paris 2024 is run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because of financial, governance and ethical concerns at the IBA.

The IOC cleared the two boxers to fight and both are in the semi-finals – Khelif was in action on Aug 6 with the bout taking place after press time – and therefore guaranteed a medal. The two organisations have been in open dispute because of this issue.

An IBA press conference in Paris was held to clarify what tests Khelif and Lin underwent in 2023, and what the results showed. IBA officials, including president Umar Kremlev, who was on a remote video call, gave a series of contradictory statements to a room packed full of reporters.

The officials said they were also constrained by medical confidentiality.

What was clear was when Ioannis Filippatos, former chairman of the IBA’s medical committee, said “abnormalities” were detected in blood tests of both boxers in 2022.

The duo were tested again in 2023 to confirm the initial findings, IBA officials said, and after that they were disqualified.

“The medical result, blood result, looks – and the laboratory says – that this boxer is male,” said Filippatos.

“The problem is that we have two blood exams with karyotype of male. This is the answer from the laboratory.”

A karyotype is an individual’s complete set of chromosomes, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute in the United States. It can also be a laboratory-produced image used to look for abnormalities in chromosome number or structure.

The Algerian Olympic Committee quickly hit back, saying: “Algeria is not a member of the IBA. We do not recognise the IBA as a legitimate institution, and it has no connection with the Olympic Games.

“Our champion, Imane Khelif, remains untouched and undeterred by the baseless claims of the IBA.”

Chinese Taipei’s Sports Administration also protested on Aug 6 against the IBA for “continued publication of false information, obscuring the facts” while saying its Olympic Committee was considering whether to file a lawsuit.

“The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has also appointed a lawyer to issue a warning letter to the IBA. It reserves the right to take recourse and will file a lawsuit if necessary,” it said.

IOC president Thomas Bach and officials from Algeria and Chinese Taipei have strenuously defended Khelif and Lin, saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports saying that.

The Olympic body, which has effectively expelled the IBA from the Olympic movement, has also accused the IBA of making an “arbitrary decision” over disqualifying the duo in 2023. AFP, REUTERS